Australia vs Brazil LIVE: Team news and line-ups as Selecao look to move on from World Cup agony | OneFootball

Brazil face Australia in their first of two friendlies against the Socceroos over the next five days as Carlo Ancelotti’s side look to put their disappointing World Cup behind them.

Dreams of a first World Cup title since 2002 were shattered by Erling Haaland in the summer, whose late double in New Jersey sunk the five-time winners in the last-16.

Neymar, who scored a last-second consolation penalty in that defeat, subsequently retired to signal a new era for the Selecao, and Ancelotti has shown his intention to rebuild by selecting just nine players from the World Cup roster.

Australia will hope to inflict more misery on Brazil in back-to-back matches on home soil, first taking them on in Townsville, Queensland before heading south for the rematch in Brisbane.

Australia team to take on Brazil

Australia XI: Beach; Italiano, Circati, Souttar, Herrington, Behich; Irvine, Okon-Engstler, Metcalfe; Irankunda, Yengi

Mike Jones25 September 2026 10:07

Starting again

Brazil’s exit at the last-16 stage if the 2026 World Cup was the earliest they’ve been eliminated from the competition since the 1990 edition.

It was a thoroughly disappointing campaign and Carlo Ancelotti has moved on.

He has selected a squad without the likes of Casemiro or even Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson as he eyes up the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and the 2030 World Cup.

The manager hopes to build and embed a spine into his team for the latter tournament so that they are well placed to compete.

Ancelotti on disappointing World Cup

We he named his new squad for the two friendlies against Australia, Carlo Ancelotti also reflected on Brazil’s World Cup performance.

"The World Cup was a disappointment for us and for me personally," Ancelotti said.

"We weren't able to play the way we expected. Being eliminated by Norway was a huge letdown because the team had actually played well up until the 60th minute of that match.

"We struggled in the first half, but the team improved after that. The defeat to Norway came as a surprise in that sense, because no one expected it to happen.

"At a club, you have the chance to process things and move on relatively quickly because there's another competition coming up; with the national team, it's more complicated.

"The pain of the defeat lingers much longer. Now, we are motivated by the fact that we have time to prepare for a new cycle and get ready for the upcoming competitions."

Carlo Ancelotti after Brazil were knocked out of the World Cup (Getty)

Good morning!

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of this international break.

Last night we had action from the Nations League involving teams from Europe but today we’re bringing you the action from a friendly between Australia and Brazil.

Both nations had contrasting fortunes in the World Cup.

Australia exceeded expectations having made it out of the group stage before losing on penalties to Egypt in the last-32 while Brazil were beaten in the last-16 having lost 2-1 to Norway. It was another underperformance from the Selecao who must now rebuild over the next four year cycle.